


Spring

by Charmkeeper



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, Basically Fae instead of Daemons, Eternal Winter instead of Eternal Night, Except I added hugs, Hopeful Ending, I tried to keep them in character, I'm Bad At Summaries, Ignoct Week, Ignoct Week 2018, M/M, Memory Loss, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-10 18:12:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13507044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charmkeeper/pseuds/Charmkeeper
Summary: Noctis ran into the Gralea Faery Circle nine years ago, and the world has been lost to Ardyn's winter ever since. Hope has been waning, life dwindling, until Ignis finds a high fae outside of Tenebrae. Though he has no memories, the fae calls himself Noctis and brings warmth back into Ignis' life, but will it last? Will spring ever return to Eos?





	1. Gone

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fic on this site. I also started writing this like...five months ago. I told myself I could and would finish it for Ignoct week, and so, here it is. There is one chapter for each day of the week, so while it doesn't follow any sort of prompts, there will be one update every day until the end.
> 
> The premise is that the game events up to the start of this story are basically the same, except that instead of daemons and astrals, we just have the fae/faeries, and everything revolves around the seasons. I probably could have gone a lot deeper with this concept, but I really just wanted to write something surface level and hopefully kind cute/sweet in the end.
> 
> Here's the first chapter, even though it's more of a preface! Enjoy!

"Noct!" It felt like his voice was literally being ripped from his throat each time he called for Noctis. How many times had all of them called for him since they'd separated? He'd said he was going on ahead, to try and catch Ardyn before he escaped again, truly a fool's errand alone. He'd be killed. They had to catch him. They had to.

Hands he now knew well grabbed at his arm and belt, stopping him in his tracks with a jolt, "No, Iggy," Prompto's shaky voice warned him. "Don't go any further."

Panic bubbled up in his chest. "Where is he?" Being blind was more infuriating than anything else at this point, it was as though he lived in a world separate from everyone else. They could see what was going on around them, but he was literally in the dark, unable to know things he could not hear, smell, or feel. All he could hear, smell, and feel right now were the rain's constant falling, and, to a lesser extent, Prompto and Gladio to either side of him. "Where is Noctis?"

"He. He's..." Prompto's voice faltered, too distressed to even finish the sentence.

"Gone," Gladio finished for him. "He's gone."

Ignis' heart plummeted to his stomach, and the panic almost overtook him. "Precisely what do you mean by 'gone'?" Please, he prayed to beings unseen, not dead. Please let them not mean dead.

The answer he gets is not much better.

"He ran straight into the Gralea Circle. Didn't even look back."

Ignis bit back a strangled cry. The Gralea Circle was the most infamous of all the faery portals. Of course the fae could come and go through them as they pleased, but for a mortal to go through was as good as a death sentence. Even those that came back were never the same. The land of faeries changed a mortal irrevocably. Those that returned often had to be killed anyway. It was considered a mercy.

Noctis, their prince, their king, their only hope left in this world, had run right into that death trap.

"T-the line of Lucis has fae blood in their roots, right?" Prompto softly said beside him, "Maybe he'll survive. Maybe he'll come back." His friend was grasping at straws, and they all knew it, even a half high fae raised on this side would have trouble, and if that legend was anything more than just that, it would have been over a thousand years ago, such blood being little more than a sliver of it at this point. Not enough to come back whole.

"Why would he do it?" Gladio seethed. "He had to know what it was! Why would he run into that place? Why?!"

Nine years later, Ignis was still asking himself the same question.


	2. Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For nine years winter has reigned and warmth has been forgotten. On a routine hunt, a high fae is found. Not just any high fae, but a fae of warmer seasons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two! Please enjoy.

Without Noctis in the world, everything had fallen to winter. The Lucis-Caelums had always been special and gifted, supposedly none with more potential than Noctis, but it seemed that the bloodline's mere presence had actually been holding back the Ardyn's full strength. Without it winter had come midsummer, and had never left.

"What does he gain?" Prompto always asked during their yearly meetups. "Nothing grows, but nothing really dies either. The world is frozen, big deal."

Prompto might have pushed it off lightly, but it really was a big deal. They'd always known Ardyn was a high fae, to so closely resemble a human, yet they'd never truly suspected he was a High King, let alone the King of Winter. It wasn't a quick death, but it was death. Ardyn was slowly destroying the human world. They didn't even know why, but then, did anyone ever really know why a fae did anything?

Motive or no, with the entire line of Lucis-Caelums gone Ardyn had turned everything to ice and snow. Growing anything, even inside greenhouses warmed with now precious heaters, was extremely difficult, animals became sparser every year, and the people who survived the harshest months dwindled. Ignis was sure that with the pace things were going within another decade there would be almost no one left. Another decade after that, absolutely nothing.

Only the ocean had remained liquid at first, though the winds and storms had made it impossible to cross. Now, nearly a decade into the permanent winter, Prompto told him even the vastness of the ocean could not resist Ardyn's magic; It too was starting to freeze over. Soon they might actually be able to walk across the ocean, back to Lucis, not that it would do them much good to go, not that they were even sure anything was still alive over there.

If Ardyn could freeze the ocean, how long until he got tired of waiting and just froze their blood in their veins?

"You sure you wanna stay here, Iggy? You could come back to Altissia with me."

"Or Gralea. I could always use a hand."

His old friends always offered to take him with them, to watch over one side or the other. They couldn't return home, so they did what they could here. Prompto watched the sea, perhaps fearing that one day he'd see Ardyn among the waves. Gladio stayed in Gralea, fighting the winter fae that came through at Ardyn's call. Ignis suspected that Gladio hoped that he'd find Noctis among the droves, but even those who returned from the land of the fae never came through the same circle they went in. He'd told Prompto to keep an eye on the circle in Accordo, but those were just two faery circles among dozens on this continent alone. Even if Noctis ever returned, it was likely they'd never find him.

"No, though I appreciate the offer, as always." Without his eyesight, he was better off here, in Tenebrae. In Altissia, he'd lost his eyesight, and Noctis had lost his bride-to-be, Lady Lunafreya. In Gralea, they'd all lost Noctis, and any hope for the future with him. Here, in Tenebrae, they'd lost nothing, and while few of the original population remained, they still needed a guiding hand. Noctis had loved this country, and Ignis would help it until his last breath was gone.

There was a lot to be done here anyway. Though the entire world, as far as they knew, had fallen to winter, Tenebrae was milder than most of the other regions. They were having more success with the greenhouses and the ice and snow did not get as deep or thick. Someone needed to watch over the area, and though he was blind, Ignis was still excellent with organization and planning.

He told his old friends three more times that he would be staying before they returned to their self appointed stations for the year.

Shortly after their departure Ignis received word of fae sightings. Though there was a circle in Tenebrae, they didn't have much trouble with the fae, most of them seemed to still gravitate toward the Gralea Circle or even the Accordo Circle. Still, when there were sightings, they needed to be dealt with. Less than half the people who resided in Tenebrae knew how to wield a weapon, and so they couldn't just let them run rampant, eventually to kill people who could not even defend themselves.

Ignis set out with the hunters nearly as soon as the word came in. They always tried to stop him, but even without his sight, Ignis was more than capable of holding his own. He would not be left behind when he could be useful.

When they found the fae, they were in a vast field that Ignis had been told had once been full of sylleblossoms. There had been several such fields once, but the frost had killed them all off early on into this never ending winter. The truth was, Ignis had never seen a live sylleblossom, though he remembered Noctis telling him all about them when they'd still been children.

_"They're beautiful, Ignis. Luna took me to see them, they're her favorite flower."_

_"It sounds like they're your favorite too."_ Ignis had said the words as a gentle tease, knowing that Noctis probably liked them primarily because Lady Lunafreya loved them so, but he would forever remember the way the blush had crept up Noctis' neck and into his face.

 _"Maybe."_ His prince had looked down at the floor hard, before successfully diverting the conversation, no matter how slightly. _"You're originally from Tenebrae, right? Have you ever seen the fields?"_

 _"I have not. I was too young when we left."_ In fact, sometimes, Ignis thought that the only things he'd gotten from Tenebrae were the summer coloring and accent. The rest of him was entirely Lucian.

Noct's face had scrunched up in that way that children's faces do when they are thinking very hard about something before he brightened, and said; _"Then I promise to show you someday."_ he remembered Noctis' grin, one of the few he'd gotten between the accident and his becoming a teenager.

Ignis had never truly expected Noctis to carry out a child's promise, but he'd remembered, for Noctis had brought it up when the plans for Noctis's marriage to Lady Lunafreya were being discussed. _"After the wedding, we'll probably go out to Tenebrae for a while. Then I can finally show you those fields."_ But now Noctis was gone, Ignis was blind, winter was everlasting and the promise was nothing more than a bittersweet memory. Still the thought of the fae disturbing these fields angered him, and he fought the fae full force.

The fae did not fight back. They zipped and avoided his spear, before finally fleeing entirely. A few of the smaller ones zipped past Ignis' face so closely that he could feel the air beating off their wings...and warmth hit his cheeks ever so slightly in the winter chill. They were not winter fae. They had not seen anything but winter fae in nine years. Ignis had thought they'd never see anything but winter fae again.

"Hey!" One of the hunters called from by the treeline. "There's a man over here! I think he's alive!"

A man. Ignis made his way toward the commotion, only to narrowly avoid being knocked over as the other hunters suddenly jumped back. One of them grabbed his arm, thought whether it was to steady him or pull him away, Ignis was unsure. "He's fae!"

Fae, a man human looking enough that they could only tell he was fae close up. That meant he was a high fae. High fae meant powerful. It meant dangerous. Perhaps that meant they should kill him before he awoke, and yet there was something about this whole situation that Ignis could not ignore. "We'll take him back with us."

"But what if--"

Ignis was quick to cut him off. "If he turns out to be a threat, we'll take care of it, but who knows why he was out here like this. It could be very bad for us if we just kill him now." They'd just encountered warmer season fae. It was a sign. Something was going on, and it was likely that this man was a part of it. It was possible that the man worked for Ardyn, despite a seasonal difference, but it was also possible that they were not on the same side. Ignis would place his hopes in that possibility. It had been so long since they'd had any hope at all.

The man slept and would not wake. Ignis visited twice a day to check on his condition, but he neither improved or worsened, and on the third day, Ignis decided to examine him more closely. He didn't smell sick, in fact, the man both radiated the same warmth the other fae from the field has and smelled of something Ignis could not identify, though the scent was definitely floral in nature. He breathed evenly, with no bubbling or catching. When he put a hand to his forehead, the man was neither too warm or too cool, though, perhaps for a fae of the warmer seasons this was not a good thing. Ignis had no way of knowing. In short, there was nothing obviously wrong, but, also being fae, he had no idea what might be wrong even if there were.

He sighed, allowing his hand to slip down toward where he was told the man's pointed ears were. Those ears were the only obvious indicator of the man's fae blood, and sure enough, that was what his finger's found. Pointed, but soft and pliable under his fingers, just like any other ear.

"That kind of tickles, you know."Ignis could not remember the last time he'd been quite so startled, and his hand retracted itself from him so quickly he felt his wrist pop unpleasantly. "My apologies," he said quickly, while twisting his wrist, dispelling the discomfort. He paused for a second before thinking to ask, "How long have you been awake?"

Ignis heard shifting and knew the fae man was sitting himself up. "Since you checked my temperature. I was going to say something, and then you started feeling up my ears. It was a little awkward."

Feeling up. Ignis felt heat flood his cheeks. He certainly had not been 'feeling up' his ears! At least...not like that. "Again, my apologies. How do you feel?"

There was a moment of silence while the man seemed to consider the answer, and then; "Okay? I could use another nap."

"Another nap?" Something about the way he said it tickled him, and Ignis gave a short laugh before speaking without thinking, "Noctis, you were asleep for three days!" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Ignis snapped it shut, both his laughter and his voice leaving him. Noctis. He'd just called him Noctis, and the thing was, it wasn't even just the fact that the man seemed to like the idea of sleeping forever that reminded him of him. His voice and even his cadence were very Noctis-like, but this wasn't Noctis. Noctis was human with rounded ears. Noctis was also gone. Ignis felt his throat tighten with a grief he had not felt so acutely in years.

"What's wrong?" Calloused fingers brushed against his own, and Ignis pulled his hand away quickly. "Hey, are you okay? I'm sorry? Whatever it was I did?"

"Apologies," Ignis said for a third time, reaching up and pushing the visor he wore higher up the bridge of his nose. "It's not you. I...called you by a name that's not yours."

The man gave a soft chuckle, and Ignis could almost see the man before him shrugging exactly the same way Noctis used to. "You can call me Noctis if you like."

Quickly, Ignis shook his head. "I'd much rather call you by your proper name."

"Yeah...the thing is...I kinda...don't remember my proper name." The fae quickly added, "Or anything else, really."

This was very concerning. That sounded very much like amnesia, but they hadn't found any wounds on the man when they'd brought him here. In fact, he's seemed to be in perfect health, aside from not wanting to wake. "What's the first thing you remember?"

There was a pause as the fae began to think, and then, reluctantly, "Your hand on my forehead."

Ignis couldn't help but think that this was bad, very bad.


	3. Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis and the fae get to know each other, and lines that Ignis has not crossed with strangers in years are crossed without thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the things I wanted to do with this story is convey that even though this is Ignoct, the relationships that Ignis (and Noctis) have with Prompto and Gladio aren't unimportant. I'm not sure how well I did on this point, but I tried to start driving the point home in this chapter.

Within a couple days, it became clear that the fae's physical condition was indeed fine. He could walk, run, lift, bend, stretch, and, goodness, he could talk. He wasn't dumb either, he knew things, like, oddly enough, obscure Lucian history, but anything personal to him was simply not there. His name, where he'd come from, what season he served, what his magic was and how to properly use it, were all not there. Despite this, it was quite clear that he was anything but malicious, and so, for the time being, there was no hurry to get rid of him.  
  
Despite the fact that Ignis had admitted to making a mistake in calling him Noctis, the fae took to the name almost instantly, and, much to Ignis' chagrin, he had everyone in the surrounding area calling him that within a week. It didn't help that, according to the other hunters, the man bore some resemblance to the lost prince; black hair, dark blue eyes, and a slim, but not scrawny, build. Though he could not see him, every time he spoke, Ignis felt like his old friend was there beside him. Still, this was someone else completely, no matter how similarly they looked, acted, and sounded. It wasn't fair to this Noctis for him to think of that Noctis.  
  
Within a fortnight, Ignis had decided to separate the two entities by mentally referring to his prince by his favored nickname, "Noct", and this high fae by the full "Noctis." It helped, more than Ignis cared to admit.  
  
Noctis spent a lot of time with Ignis. Ignis wasn't sure if this was because he'd been there when he'd awakened, or if it was more that Ignis had his fingers in all the pies, and thus Noctis learned more that way, but it seemed that everywhere he went, Noctis followed like a puppy. He wouldn't have minded this so much if it hadn't been accompanied by nearly ceaseless questions while he was trying to do things.  
  
"What are these?" Ignis felt Noctis' now familiar fingers wrap around his wrist and guide his hand down to a stack of folders. He never asked to touch him, which was rude, but he also never assumed that he had such great senses that he knew what 'this,' 'that,' or 'these' was supposed to be without feeling it, as most people did, so Ignis could never find it in himself to be truly upset when he found Noctis dragging his hands this way or that.  
  
This time, there was only one stack of folders on his desk, and that made the answer easy. "Those are reports."  
  
"Reports?" Noctis asked softly as he released Ignis' wrist.  
  
"Yes, from all over Niflhiem, Accordo, and the rest of the continent. We are lost if we don't help and support each other, and that means staying in contact." Radios worked sometimes, but they were spotty, and that meant sending weekly paper reports to all the major bases had become the most popular method of communication.  
  
"...M'kay."  
  
Ignis smiled a little at the way Noctis said that, in the same way he had once heard teenagers say 'sounds fake, but okay.' "What's so hard to believe?"  
  
"They send them to you, right? You're kind of the head honcho around here." Ignis nodded, and Noctis replied bluntly. "Ignis. You're blind."  
  
"How nice of you to notice," he retorted dryly, more amused than actually annoyed.  
  
"I didn't mean it like that! Just...like..." he heard Noctis pick up one of the files, heard the sound of the papers flipping as he thumbed through it. "They're written in ink. You can't see ink. You get all these reports, but you can't read them."  
  
"Obviously, the answer is that I get someone to read them to me."  
  
"But everyone around here is super busy."  
  
Noctis was certainly observant, wasn't he? Ignis quirked a smile. "Thus why you'll notice the stack is a little tall at the moment."  
  
Ignis even chuckled a little as he began to walk away from the stack of reports, listening to Noctis make very frustrated noises. It was both touching and a little endearing listening to how much this little thing got under Noctis' skin, but what else could he honestly do? It was true that after he'd been blinded he'd very quickly learned braille, and Prompto had shown legitimate interest in learning it too, though he was a much slower learner, and there were more important things now. He could not expect the reports to be in braille, anymore than he could expect any one to drop what they were doing, or to give up what little leisure time they had to read to him.  
  
He left Noctis in his studies, still fretting over the reports, knowing that once he was done processing it, he'd catch up. Indeed, some five minutes later he heard the quick approach of Noctis' feet, and the fae huffed when he finally came up astride him. "I'll do it."  
  
"You'll do what?"  
  
"Read the reports to you. I can read, I've got nothing better to do. I'll read them."  
  
This. This surprised Ignis, and he had to take a second so that the words did not stumble coming out of his mouth. "That's a generous offer, but you don't have to."  
  
"I want to, Ignis. I want to help you."  
  
"I do not need--"  
  
"I'm not saying you're not capable!" Noctis yelled, and Ignis realized that he'd been yelling too, and he snapped his mouth shut. Help had become such a trigger word for him. He would have to apologize later. He had not meant to lose his temper. After a second of silence between them, Noctis continued with a sigh. "Like, damn, look at this place, it's...together because of you. You do so much, let me help you do the things you can't by yourself."  
  
Ignis had always been humble about his skills, but he had always had a great amount of pride in being able to do them himself. He was Noct's helper, his advisor, and he took pride in that. To need help was always embarrassing and rubbed against his pride, yet he'd always knew when to accept it before. He'd accepted the help when he'd first been blinded, and though he'd been pushing off 'help' for years, he accepted Noctis' offer now.  
  
The fae read him four reports a night, just after dinner. He had a slow, clear reading voice, very different from his normal speaking, which was punctuated at least once an evening when Ignis would hear Noctis slap the sheaf of papers against his lap and declare; "Damn, this is boring! Why do you torture yourself with this?!"  
  
The first time he heard this statement, he'd laughed in a way he hadn't laughed in a long time, warmth, and a forgotten kind of affection filling him. "Now you know why I'm blind," he'd teased him, and the temperature in the room inexplicably warmed. Ignis would later realize that this was Noctis' unknown, uncontrolled magic, coming through in emotion.  
  
Noctis had snorted. "So you could avoid reading reports? Smart, maybe I should follow your example." There'd been a smile in Noctis' voice, and the room had remained as warm as that smile until halfway through the next report.  
  
Ignis was not sure when his mind stopped thinking of Noctis as someone they were taking care of and when he started thinking of him as a friend, but somewhere between reading reports at night, running the rounds during the day, and their mutual worry over the eternal winter, that was what happened. It became apparent that Noctis felt the same way when he asked about his friends one day between errands. "My friends?"  
  
"Yeah. The ones who write reports most often. Prompto. Gladio. They are your friends, right? Tell me about them." There was a pause before "Please," was hastily added to the end of his request.  
  
Ignis didn't mind talking about his friends, in fact, thinking of them was good, it always brought back memories of better, warmer times, but, "I...would not know where to even start."  
  
"Anywhere. Start anywhere. Just. Please?" The word was desperate this time, like a child who could not wait a second longer. "They're a part of you, and I..." Noctis' voice faltered, and Ignis did not make him finish. Instead, he agreed.  
  
He started with Gladio. It wasn't that Gladio was easier to talk about, per say, but that he was simpler. Gladio was always right here, right now. He didn't hide what he felt or wanted. He was just...simpler than Prompto, and Ignis had known him longer. Ignis enjoyed the way that Noctis laughed about stories with Iris in them, and how he could practically feel him leaning forward in his seat about the stories connected to his scars, both the first one and the second.  
  
"He took his job very seriously."  
  
"He always did." Noct and Gladio had not always gotten along, but he'd always taken his job seriously. "He was practically bred to be a shield, just as Noct was to be a prince."  
  
"It's...sad. To be born for a specific purpose," Noctis paused, "But it's also really admirable to follow that purpose, even if you know it's going to hurt you."  
  
"So you're saying that you admire Gladio?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Ignis chuckled, his chest once again heavy with affection. "I'll tell him you said that."  
  
Noctis snorted. "I'd rather tell him myself."  
  
Prompto was harder. Though he had always been bubbly and energetic around them, the young man was a multi-layered creature, that happy vibrancy just being the shell for many deeper, sadder things beneath, and Ignis struggled to convey these things. How could he convey what a wonderful and loyal friend Prompto was, but combine it with his cripplingly low self esteem? How could he tell someone that his parents appeared to never want him, but that he'd also filled a void in all of them they'd never known they'd had?  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Why what?"  
  
Noctis leaned forward, and he was close enough that their fingers brushed together as Noctis spoke with what sounded like restrained anger. "Why wouldn't his parents treasure him? He was their only child, right? And he sounds like such a good guy, hard working, loyal, friendly. What kind of parents wouldn't want a child like that?"  
  
Affection filled Ignis yet again. Noctis didn't even really know Prompto, but just at Ignis' word he was getting upset. It was very endearing, yet the question was serious. "In Gralea," Just before Noct had disappeared from their world, Ignis thought, his heart sinking like a stone in water. "We discovered that it's quite probable that Prompto is actually a changeling. Prompto didn't know it himself, but since then I have always suspected his parents knew." His parents would have died in the fall of Insomnia though, so he'd never know for certain.  
  
"That's such bullshit." Noctis grumbled. "Changelings are still kids. They're just fae born without magic."  
  
Ignis smiled, "It's still hard to accept that your birth child has been taken off to be eaten." It didn't excuse how Prompto, blameless in the whole ordeal, had been treated, but that much Ignis could understand. He would also find that reality hard to accept.  
  
Beside him, Noctis made a gagging sound. "Ignis. Ew. Is that what you guys think? That we eat human babies?"  
  
He wasn't quite sure how to take this question. "Well...yes. That is what we've always known." This had always been a fact. Many mothers had tried to run into faery circles to reclaim their traded children. It had always ended badly.  
  
The next sound out of Noctis' mouth was an even more disgusted gagging noise. "No. High fae don't eat the children they steal. Only lesser fae like to eat people. High fae mold them into the heirs the changeling couldn't be. You know, humans are like clay, really malleable and able to become anything, so they trade a good human child, for their powerless, set in stone, fae child. Prompto's asshole parents can rest easy knowing their actual child is alive and well tended to." There was a brief pause followed by, "I just rolled my eyes."  
  
Ignis smiled. "I could have guessed that."  
  
There was another long pause before Noctis grumbled, "Man, when I meet Prompto, he's getting a hug. No. A lot of hugs."  
  
Noctis had been with them in Tenebrae for nearly six months before Ignis started telling him stories about himself. He started off slow. A story here or there about growing up, adapting to his job, stories about getting to know Prompto and Gladio, but, "You never talk about Noctis." Noctis paused before continuing on. "Not me, Noctis, but the other one. The one you mistook me for. The prince."  
  
A blossom of pain mixed with apprehension filled him, and Ignis worded his next question very carefully. "Are you sure you want to hear about him?"  
  
"Of course," came the immediate reply. "He's important to you, and I-" Noctis paused again, as he had the first time he'd asked for stories about friends, but this time, he finished the statement. "I want to know everything about you."  
  
Talking about Noct was one of those things that, at first, was almost impossible, but once he he got going, it seemed like he couldn't stop. After all, for so many years, even into current years, his entire life had revolved around his prince. He lost time, telling Noctis about his namesake, everything from the moment they met right up to the moment he'd lost him nearly ten years beforehand.  
  
Ignis was never quite sure how Noctis was going to react to any of his stories, but of all the things he'd expected, the last thing he'd expected was for Noctis to very quietly say at the end was, "You loved him."  
  
"Well, of course I did. I grew up with him. He wasn't just my prince, he was my friend."  
  
"No. I mean." Noctis sighed, frustrated. "You were _in_ love with him. It's obvious, just from hearing you talk about him. Your devotion goes beyond a servant or a friend."  
  
No one had ever accused him of it before, not even their shared friends. He'd always taken great steps to hide the truth that Noctis had stumbled upon. It didn't matter how he felt. Noct had been a prince, so he'd always been unavailable, even before his betrothal to Lady Lunafreya. He wouldn't admit to it now, not even to a man who didn't know Noct, a man that he himself wasn't sure how he really felt about. "Gladio and Prompto have always had the same level of devotion as I. There's nothing special about it."  
  
"Hm, maybe." Noctis certainly didn't sound convinced, but, to Ignis' relief, he didn't pursue it further.


	4. Adore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis almost forgot that nothing stays the same forever.

It became colder. Of course, it was always cold, in this incessant winter, but for several weeks, the temperatures dipped down so low that even rooms with fires heating them felt chilled, and the plants in the greenhouses suffered terribly and required watch twenty-four hours a day. Even Noctis, who seemed to largely be unaffected by cold, mentioned once or twice that the weather "sucked."  
  
Every once in a while it got like this, so cold that even the snow didn't fall, and so Ignis wasn't too worried about it, beyond making sure as many plants survived as possible. It would get more reasonable in a few days, a week at most, and everyone could stop grouching for a while. That was what he told everyone too. Don't bother wasting more resources on fire and warmth. If there was one thing Tenebrae had plenty of, it was blankets, and he urged people to use those as much as possible, especially now.  
  
They needed to preserve their resources as much as possible. Trees could be grown, but it was hard in the winter cold, and it took a long time. Coal could be mined, but not locally. Things like oils were easier, but didn't last as long. Magic...only Noctis had magic, and it wasn't something he strictly remembered how to use, per say. He had it, but without his personal memories, it seemed tied to his emotions, sad, happy, or angry. Even if it weren't, Noctis could not be expected to warm an entire city. The fae would surely expire from the effort alone, especially when he was fighting against the magic of a different season's king.  
  
All in all, blankets were their best bet. Clothes, layers. He knew the people didn't want to hear it, but it was true. The winter might never break. They needed to preserve their warmth any way they could, even if it meant being a bit colder in the meantime.  
  
Ignis always followed his own advice. He had many layered blankets on the bed he slept in, though, even he had to admit to himself that even with that, it was hard for him to fall asleep comfortably. Still, he managed, and once he was asleep it was a deep sleep, one that he felt himself falling deeper and deeper into, until all at once, he was woken up by someone violently jostling his shoulder, and Noctis' voice in his ears. "Ignis!"  
  
"What is it?" His tongue felt thick with sleep, and his slurred tone reflected it, but that wasn't the worrisome thing. He was blind, and in being blind, he'd developed a extra sense of sorts, for knowing when he wasn't alone. Even in sleep, he ought to have noticed Noctis entering the room and woken up. He hadn't. That was very worrying. What if it hadn't been Noctis, but Ardyn?  
  
"Ignis. I'm cold." For a second, Ignis made the mistake of thinking the fae was whining, and had prepared to tell him off, but then the weight of who was saying it hit him. Noctis, a fae of warmer seasons, a man who until now seemed to be almost wholly unaffected by the cold. That was who was saying he was cold.  
  
"Will you be all right?"  
  
"Me? I'll be fine, but you...you were half gone." His voice trembled with what Ignis took to be fear, and for the first time he realized that the blankets had been thrown from his body, he lay in a fetal position, shivering, and that Noctis' hand lingered on his shoulder, warmer than the first days of summer long ago. Perhaps Noctis was overreacting, but it was also entirely possible that it really had been that serious.  
  
Ignis decided not to take the chance. "My apologies for worrying you, Noctis. I'll start a fire." Ignis moved to get up, but the hand on his shoulder kept him in place, and Ignis could almost hear Noctis shaking his head.  
  
"Don't bother, I'm just gonna stay here."  
  
Before words of question or protest could begin to form at his lips, Noctis had slipped off his shoes and slid into bed next to him. The heavy weight of blankets was pulled over them, and Noctis wrapped his arms around Ignis' torso, pulling them together. "What do you think you're doing?"  
  
"Go to sleep, Ignis." The words were mumbled against the hollow of his throat, and Ignis bristled, uncomfortable. It had been a long time since he'd fallen asleep so close to anyone, in fact, it had been since that trip all those years ago now, when the four of them would fall asleep in the tent, separate, and then wake up in a tangled mess that he always seemed to be the center of. Back then, if it were cold, they'd gravitated toward Gladio, who had always been the warmest of them, but Ignis was sure that not even Gladio was as warm as Noctis was against him now.  
  
Within minutes, Ignis was experiencing a warmth he hadn't felt since before the eternal winter had started. Minutes after that, he fell asleep in Noctis' arms, exhausted, and unable to resist the sweet seduction of the heat.  
  
When he next awoke, Noctis was gone, but the cozy warmth of a season long forgotten lingered under the covers.  
  
The next morning, Ignis learned that three people had frozen to death in their sleep the night before, and, looking back upon it, Ignis couldn't help but think that if it hadn't been for Noctis, that number would have been four.  
  
It only kept getting worse from there. Though the frigid cold did eventually give way to something more manageable, the reports that Noctis continued to read to him conveyed that the fae attacks were only getting worse in both Gralea and Accordo. These reports were becoming more and more brief as it just became more of the same. Food becoming scarcer, temperatures dropping so low the snow doesn't even fall, winter fae practically a constant. It was almost as though Ardyn had started to prepare for something, though Ignis had no idea what that something might have been.  
  
In the meantime, Noctis had started taking a more active role in the community. He spent a lot of time in the greenhouses, and it seemed like his very presence helped the plants thrive and produce. His efforts showed in every tomato and cucumber, even the taste of them was richer, riper, healthier. Ignis was sure that this was a sign of Noctis' true nature as a fae of spring or summer. If this was the result of just one such fae, what would the presence of others do? Of course, there was no way to find out. Noctis was the only warmer fae they'd seen since they found him, and Ignis wasn't sure that even Noctis would stay, if he had his memories.  
  
It surprised him, how sad the idea that Noctis might want to leave, if he could remember where to go, made him.  
  
He'd had six distressing reports from Prompto and five from Gladio when reports of increased fae attacks in the Tenebrae area reached Ignis. The local hunters gathered almost immediately, as they always did, but there was an addition he wasn't expecting. "Noctis?" Sensing when the fae was near had become easy. Any room he entered almost instantly became warmer, and there was a way that other people seemed to react when he came. They became quiet, spoke a little softer, moved out of his way. It wasn't fear, Ignis didn't think, not anymore. Now it was awe. A fae that was on their side, it probably seemed impossible.  
  
"I want to come too, Ignis."  
  
Ignis almost opened his mouth to protest, but he didn't quite make it speaking before the head hunter, a man named Dave, not unlike the one back in Lucis, welcomed him to the group with open arms. Ignis supposed that settled that, though, before they actually headed out, he pulled Noctis aside. "Are you certain about this? Don't feel like you have to push yourself to feel useful. You've really come into your own, and I would hate to see you hurt."  
  
"Don't worry, I can handle myself. Besides, I want to go. I read the reports to you, remember? It's getting worse. The Winter King is obviously up to something, and I want to do my part to protect Tenebrae."  
  
"You want to...protect Tenebrae?" Ignis couldn't keep the surprise out of his tone. It was a nice thing to hear, but the idea that Noctis had come to think of Tenebrae as a place to protect, a place he perhaps thought of as home was something Ignis had never considered.  
  
Though he couldn't see it, he suspected Noctis nodded. "You love Tenebrae, and I want to protect everything you love."  
  
"Noctis..."  
  
Noctis pushed forward, refusing to be interrupted. "Ignis. I love you. I don't have any memories of where I came from before you woke me up, but you took me anyway, trusted me anyway, showed me that this cold, almost dead world is worth fighting for. It's beautiful. The way you never give up. I love it, and I love you. I will fight for you. I'll do anything for you. All I ask is that you don't try to stop me."  
  
Ignis had half expected Noctis to try and touch him, but he didn't, they only stood here, those words lingering in the air between them. Noctis' proclamation of love buzzed like a bee in his ear, and for once, Ignis was sure that even if his eyes worked, he wouldn't be seeing anything in focus right now. What was he supposed to say? No one had ever professed love to him before. How was he supposed to feel? Because all he felt was a hollow spot in his chest that he wasn't sure how to fill.  
  
"Ignis?"  
  
His spoken name brought him back to the now, and he shook himself free of his worrying. Now was not the time. He would have to sort through his emotions later, when they returned from the hunt. "Apologies. If this is how you truly feel, I will not stop you."  
  
"Thank you," Noctis' voice was thick with relief. Or was it sorrow? Ignis could not tell.  
  
The trek out to the circle was exceptionally quiet, not just from a conversation standpoint, but everything around them. The wind didn't blow, snow didn't fall, no animals skittered about just behind the treeline. All Ignis could hear was the sounds of boots against hardened snow, and the occasional cough. Quiet. Too quiet. It took Ignis too long to figure it out.  
  
"Fall back! It's an ambush!"  
  
The moment the words had left his lips the world exploded into sound, and everything was chaos. Even in the frigid air the smell of blood hit Ignis' nose within moments, and he knew at least three of their number were gone. Everything around him was going off, sounds of magic, and battle that made it hard even for Ignis' keenly trained ears to follow, though the managed, striking anything that got too close, until he heard a sound that chilled him more than any amount of winter wind could. Ardyn's distant laugh echoed through the trees. He'd know that laugh anywhere, and he froze, just for a moment, but that moment was long enough.  
  
"Specs!"

Hands shoved against his left shoulder so hard that he felt into the icy snow, his hands feeling the pain of both cold and hard slap against them. Next to him, he heard a terrible, crackling sound, and a body fell next to him. Ignis knew it was Noctis. For a moment, Ignis was sure his own heart had stopped. "Noctis!" Trembling hands searched his unresponsive form, hands coming back with sticky, already freezing blood from a wound on his back. No. No. Not again. He couldn't go through this again.

Ignis was unsure of how he managed to survive the battle holding onto Noctis' prone form, fighting off fae that got within reaching distance of his knives, but when the sounds died, and the remaining hunters gathered around them, they were both still breathing.


	5. Explain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto and Gladio rush to Tenebrae when they hear the news. Long stories are made short.

The healers said the injury wasn't as bad as it seemed. There was a lot of blood, but that didn't seem to be too much of an issue for Noctis' fae body. He was still unconscious, but he'd wake up, they said. The thing he was told next was the shock. "There's a scar on his back, long and deep, going from his shoulder, all the way across to his hip." The healer paused, knowing Ignis was already thinking what she was about to say. "I was here, when Prince Noctis was brought in after that fae attack all those years ago. It's the same scar."  
  
"Are you certain?"  
  
"I would know that scar if I saw it a hundred years from now. I'm certain." The healer left Ignis alone to his thoughts after this, and did they ever run at a thousand thoughts a second. How could Noctis have the same scar as Noct? It was too much of a coincidence, and that, coupled with the very similar voice and supposedly similar appearance made the answer obvious, Noctis and Noct _were_ the same person, but how? Noct had possessed magic, but he had been perfectly human. Noctis was very clearly a fae, the ears alone proved it, so how could they be the same person?  
  
When it hit him, it was like the air around him was sucked away. Noctis himself had told him the answer months ago, when they'd been talking about Prompto's status as a changeling. Fae were creatures set in stone, only able to be what they already were, but they found humans to be as malleable as clay. Had they taken Noct and molded him into a fae? It was the only answer that made sense, but with Noctis unconscious and unable to remember anything, there was no way to find out for sure. Ignis had to wait.  
  
It was two days before a healer came to get him, saying that Noctis had finally awoken once again and was asking to see him immediately. Ignis dropped everything to go, when when he reached Noctis' quarters, the warmth greeted him, instantly melting away the cold that had set deep in his bones since their return. "Ignis! You're all right!" Hands grasped at his shoulders, and Ignis allowed himself to be pulled down into a hug.  
  
"Yes, thanks to you, but I would appreciate it if you didn't go throwing yourself in harm's way like that again."  
  
"I make no promises," Noctis told him cheekily as he released his hold. A second later his voice became softer, meeker. "I need to tell you something though." Ignis felt Noctis take a step back, and heard him take a deep breath. "I remember everything, Specs. I am Noctis Lucis-Caelum, and I am the High King of Spring."  
  
Even though Ignis already knew part of this, hearing the words themselves was still a shock to his system. It changed everything.

Ignis contacted Prompto and Gladio immediately. They answered equally immediately, and came to Tenebrae as quickly as weather allowed.

Prompto arrived first, all but loudly sobbing when he laid eyes on Noctis, and Ignis listened with a small smile at their reunion, feeling somewhat like a fly on the wall that should not have been there.

"Dude! Look at your ears!"

He heard a jostling that he assumed was Noct shoving at his old friend's shoulder. "Shut up! You look at your chin!"

"Hey!" Prompto said, managing to only sound mildly offended. "I gotta keep my face warm somehow!"

It was as though they'd only been apart a week and not nearly ten years. It was truly heartwarming.

Gladio's arrival, some three days later, was much more somber, in fact they hardly said anything to each other at all.

"You look good."

"Thanks," Noctis mumbled shyly. The inability to take a properly compliment was a trait that had apparently never left him. "You too."

The silence between them was wide and awkward, but eventually it was Noctis who broke it. "Come here." The command was soft, but serious, and Ignis turned his head away to give them a pretense of privacy while they hugged. "I missed you."

"Then you shouldn't have left."

It wasn't that they weren't happy to see each other, but it was different. Prompto and Noctis had always had a special kind of open relationship, perhaps because Prompto had never been a part of life at the Citadel, and instead had been Noctis' first, and only truly chosen friend. It wasn't to say that Noctis didn't care about him or Gladio, but Prompto was different. He and Gladio were more professional and somber affairs for Noct, and Prompto...Ignis supposed that Prompto was freedom. The freedom Noctis had always longed for, but never been able to have.

After Noct excused himself to go check on the greenhouses, Gladio had approached Ignis, a slight tease in his voice as he said, "How did you not know that was him?"

"I _am_ blind, Gladio." Ten years ago, this wouldn't have been funny, but now, Gladio was able to laugh at the statement. How things had changed.

"Seriously though."

Ignis sighed, knowing there was no way he'd have been able to avoid the question forever. "Take your pick. He was fae. He had no memories. I truly believed our Noct to be dead. I didn't want to fool myself with false hope." It seemed idiotic now, to have not truly seen it, but what was done is done. Noct was here now, with his memories, and all they could do was move forward.

Gladio roughly patted his shoulder. "Don't you worry, Iggy. There's nothing false about that man over there. Fae or not, that's definitely our Noct."

"That's a relief," he said, though it was only half true. It was truly a relief that Noct had returned to them, but it would also be a lie to say that he wouldn't miss the person he'd gotten to know over the last year. The one who worked hard, read reports to him at night, who'd...said he loved him barely a week ago. His feelings on the matter weren't important though, there was work to be done, now that they were all here.

"So what happened?" Prompto asked first, once Gladio had settled in and they'd all eaten. "Do you even remember?"

Ignis suspected once again that Noctis was nodding, slowly, like he always had when he'd tried to delay an answer, but then, several lengthy moments later, Noct spoke. "When we were split up in Gralea, Ardyn's voice kept talking to me as I tried to find my way to Prompto."

"He did that to us too. Remember, Iggy?"

"I do," Ignis said with a curt nod. How could he forget? The voice that had already haunted his dreams, but it leading them through a labyrinth of unfamiliar halls, made only worse by his still new blindness. It had been a waking nightmare, being separated from Noct, searching for Prompto, his only company a man on the edge of a knife himself and their worst enemy. At the end of the road, the knowledge that they'd almost assuredly lost Noctis forever.

"Yeah, well, I had a nasty habit of talking back to the voice. I don't remember exactly what I said, but eventually the voice told me that...'I would never defeat him as I was now.' I knew he was telling the truth. It bugged me, how was I supposed to become more? I  had magic, I'd trained in almost every kind weapon I've ever seen. We'd all traveled together so far, grown so much...how could I become more?" Noctis paused. "I got the idea as soon as the circle came into view, and I just ran for it, not even thinking it through, but knowing it was the only answer and that if I asked you about it, you'd only try to stop me."

The silence lingered this time, the air practically reeking of guilt and regret, until Prompto, bless him, broke the silence. "What's it like in there?"

"Surprisingly, not that different from here, except everything is done with magic instead of tech. And rules. Everything is rules, even talking. I think...that's why humans die or go crazy in there. They break a rule they don't know about, and then they have to face the punishment and it's...not pleasant, to say the least. It was pretty easy for me, actually. Just like living at court. Lesser fae there are viewed a lot like they are here. Disgusting, lesser beings that have no manners and should just be killed off. Except there's a lot of them. And...they're like bees? Hive mind. If the king of their season gives them a command, they gotta do it. The kings just usually send them here. Out of sight, out of mind." Ignis didn't need to see it to know that Noctis shrugged.

"Anyway, there are the four high kings, one for each season. Ardyn's winter, but he's been crazy and missing for a while. No one except other winter fae really care though. It's no skin off their nose, as long as he's not bugging them."

"Even though he's keeping it eternally winter here?" Prompto was fully engrossed in the explanation, Ignis could tell, in his mind's eye he could almost see the face of a younger man, blue eyes wide with wonder.

"I think it would matter to them if he were there, lording the extra power over them, but he's here, so not so much. Everything's about balance. Here's crazy, but over there is fine. They don't care until it directly affects them over there." Noct sighed. "I eventually saw a guy that looked just like you, Prompto."

"Me?" Prompto squeaked. "Do you think...?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was the guy you were exchanged for." Ignis remembered, all those months ago, how Noctis had gotten upset over thinking that the high fae ate the children they traded, and had assured him that the original Prompto was probably well taken care of. Here was where that thought had come from. "He's powerful enough over there that he's the Summer Prince, and if no one overpowers him, he'll someday be king. We became friends, though, I really just think I amused him, and he told me that the Spring King was old, and getting weak, and that he hadn't named an heir. If I wanted to defeat the Winter King, I had to also be a High King. That meant becoming fae and overthrowing another king. The Spring King was the best target."

"How did you manage it?" For once in the conversation, Ignis beat Prompto to the punch.

"I'm not gonna lie, it was hard, and painful, and I don't even want to think about the process ever again. But I managed. I wormed my way into the Spring Court, and I eventually challenged the king. That final fight...it was easier than it should have been. I think maybe that's part of why Ardyn got so strong, Spring wasn't challenging Winter anymore. I'm here to change that though. I'm going to take the world back from Ardyn, and we'll have balance again. I promise you guys, spring is coming."


	6. Depart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis knows all things have a beginning and an end. Sometimes beginnings feel like ends, and sometimes ends like beginnings. Noctis leaving is a beginning, he knows, but it certainly feels like an end.

The four of them prepared to head back to Altissia. The three of them had wanted to go all the way to Insomnia with him, but Noctis refused. "I won't risk it. It's possible that it'll be too cold. Too close to Ardyn. You might freeze where you stand. Besides, I need people I trust to take care of the world when spring returns. Everyone will have questions, and you'll have answers." This all but told them that Noct wouldn't be returning to them after the battle with Ardyn. They would be losing him again. Ignis didn't think anyone, even Noctis, took the news well. They would be going to Altissia, and then they would watch as their prince, their king, their friend, walked across the ice toward Lucis, never to be seen from again. If they'd been serious before, they were downright somber now. They were going to lose him again. It was all their worst nightmare.

"Specs," Noctis called to him, and Ignis idly remembered that Noctis had called him that during their last battle too, just before he'd been pushed to the ground. His old nickname that he'd only ever let Noctis get away with calling him. When precisely had Noct remembered everything? Ignis supposed it wasn't truly important. The important thing was that they had come back, that he was now going to fulfill what appeared to be his destiny. "I need to talk to you."

He stopped. He didn't really want to, but he did. He got the feeling that this was going to be a very painful conversation. "Is everything quite all right?"

"Yeah!" He paused before he amended, "...No..." Noctis sighed. "You've been avoiding me, ever since we came back from that fight with the winter fae."

"Nonsense," Ignis lied.

"It's true! Sure, we've been around each other, but never alone. I'm not sure if it's because my memories came back and you feel like I somehow lied to you about it, or if it's what I said right before we went into that fight." The subtle but distinct sound of Noctis nervously rubbing his hands together filled Ignis' ears.

Ignis smiled. He'd never been the best at giving comfort, but for Noct, he always tried. "Things have just been hectic since your memories returned. I certainly don't think you lied to me, Noct, and I certainly don't hold what you said then against you now."

"Wait. What? You don't...you don't think I was serious?!" The desperate edge in Noct's voice caught him off guard, and though he could not see him, Ignis found himself gaping as Noctis went on. "Or is it that you think that went away just because I remember who I was before?! Ignis...I...I...I did lose my memories coming back through the faery ring. It wasn't something I intended to happen, but I can't regret this last year, because it allowed me to fall in love with you all over again."

"Again?" He was barely able to breathe the word out as a question. He'd definitely heard the word again. "But what about Lady Lunafreya? You always loved her."

"That's true. I'm not gonna lie, I loved you both. I always did, but you were also both...like pipe dreams. Luna was beautiful, and kind, and so far away in the hands of Niflheim, reachable only by letter. Until the treaty, I don't think I ever really expected to see her again. And then there was you, always there, patient, but stern, always my friend, always on my side, even when I was being a shit, but you're...a guy, and not a political figurehead, and that made you not an option for me. It was terrible." Noctis laughed shakily. " I had two crushes, both of them beyond my reach. Then Luna died for me, and Insomnia fell, and...there was no time to think about you, or what happened to you, and," he paused, a great, long pause, during which Ignis realized he had not been breathing for some time. "Now I still don't have the time to think about you. I have to defeat Ardyn, and yet all I can think about is you, because when it's done, I have to go back to Faery to rule my season and guide winter back into place, and I'll never really see you again. It's the right thing, leaving you, Prompto, and Gladio behind, but it's not easy, and it's not what I want."

This was the point where he was supposed to offer advice, he was, after all, supposed to be his advisor. He settled on an old saying that was all too often true. "The right thing is rarely the easy thing."

"There he is," Noctis said, chuckling sadly. "The man I love."

"Noct--" He didn't get any farther than that, for Noctis cut him off.

"Let me say it, Specs. Just once. I never got to say it to Luna at all." He heard a deep breath being taken in. "I love you, Ignis Scientia."

"I love you too, Noctis Lucis-Caelum." Painfully the words parted from his lips, words he'd never thought he'd say aloud. They were apparently words Noctis never expected to hear, by the way surprise filled his voice.

"You...do?"

It was Ignis' turn to sigh, and he nodded his head. "You were right, all those months ago, when you heard me telling stories about you, and accused me of loving my prince. I'm not precisely sure when the lines between duty, friendship, and love all began to blur, but they did. I knew it was ill-fated though, and I knew you loved Lady Lunafreya, so I kept it to myself. Then you came, with no memories, and no direction, but somehow you still charmed your way into my heart. I'll never figure out how you did it."

Calloused fingers that he still remembered reaching for his own hand a year ago when he'd first awoken brushed against his face. Before, Noctis' hands had been soft and smooth, despite his training. There was no denying that his time in Faery had changed him, but not totally. "Can I kiss you?" The question was spoken tentatively, not at all sure of himself.

Ignis chuckled, feeling as though he weren't really there, that this was a dream, and soon he'd wake up to realize that Noctis had never returned, that he wasn't about to lose him again, since he'd never had him back at all. He wasn't sure which would be more painful, this being a dream, or this being reality. "I daresay I'd be disappointed if you didn't."

They kissed. The fact that it happened at all felt like a miracle, but the fact that their teeth didn't clack together, or their noses bang were beyond anything Ignis could have hoped for. Soft and short, it was almost nothing, and yet it was everything. One kiss. It was absurd that it had such an effect on him, yet, when Noct pulled back, it seemed like he'd taken all of Ignis' oxygen with him, and his heart pounded so quickly in his chest that he thought he ought to pass out.

"I'm sorry I have to leave you so soon," Noctis whispered, sounding as though he too were out of breath, and Ignis smiled softly, reaching up and allowing his fingers to brush alongside Noct's face, feeling tips of his pointed ears dance between his fingers. He felt Noctis shudder at the touch, and he wished, neither for the first or the last, that they had more time.

"Like I said; I knew my love was ill-fated."

The walk back to Altissia was simultaneously long and short, fun and awkward, easy and hard. He could hear Prompto taking pictures in the background, a thing Prompto hadn't done since Noctis had disappeared. Gladio chattered and sparred with Noctis, as he once had years and years ago when they'd all still lived in Insomnia, before the eternal winter had even been a whisper on anyone's lips. He could hear Noctis laugh, and they shared Prompto's pictures at night. Ignis cooked dinners, and it all felt...wonderful. It was almost as though they'd gone back in time, but that was what made it painful and difficult too. They hadn't gone back to the beginning, this was the end, and they were all just pretending it wasn't coming.

Soon, they'd have to wake up from their reverie.

When they arrived in Altissia, Ignis could not see it. Of course he couldn't, but he still imagined the pristine city it had been before. When he concentrated harder, he could almost see it with the destruction Ardyn had brought it, but it wasn't what he remembered the most clearly. Of course it wasn't. What he remembered was Prompto, mesmerized by the lights, running, taking pictures of everything, Gladio trailing behind them, ever the dutiful guard, and Noctis, falling asleep to the gondola's soft rocking. Ignis had hoped at the time that Altissia would be a respite from everything else going on, but instead it had turned into the start of true chaos. The beginning of the end.

"Describe it to me?" He gently asked Noctis, and Noct moved closer, his springtime warmth washing over him like the sunshine used to as he entwined their fingers together.

"It's covered in snow," Noct began in an unnecessary whisper. "And it looks like they never got around to repairing it before it all fell to shit, so half of it is beautiful and intact, and then the rest are ruins. The channels are all frozen over. It looks...empty?" Noctis' voice got louder as he started talking to someone else. "Hey, Prompto? Do people still live here?"

"Yeah," came Prompto's uncertain reply. "The fae attacks are pretty common though, so most people just stay inside. I mean, it's also colder here than in Tenebrae, so, trying to stay warmer is always a goal. Easier to stay warm inside."

Noctis' fingers tightened in his own. "Don't worry, soon the attacks will stop, and the warmth will come back. I know everyone's been suffering. I'm going to end it. Things are going to get better."

"We all have faith in you," Gladio said very softly, his tone both genuine and pained, and Ignis nodded his head in agreement, both with the words, and the emotions hidden inside them.

They slept at Prompto's place that night, it was small, smaller than the tent even, and so they were all forced to huddle up together, Noctis in the middle. With the blankets it was surprisingly comfortable and warm, and in the morning, he didn't think any of them wanted to move. They did anyway. They got up, and Ignis made breakfast. Their last meal, he kept thinking. This was their last meal with them all together. Ever.

No one said anything. The sound of cutlery on china was haunting.

When they arrived at the ocean's edge, the wind coming in off it blew right through his layers, chilling Ignis down to the bone. Even though he knew why, it was still amazing to him that Noctis only wore a light jacket, and even that, most of the time, was just for show.

"Are you sure you're going to be all right to cross?" Gladio asked at last, the first words, other than polite thanks or pleases, spoken since the night before.

"Yeah," Prompto chimed in, "What if I'm wrong, and it's still liquid in the middle? What if it actually gets cold for you and you die of hypothermia? Or your feet melt the ice and you fall through and still die of hypothermia? There are totally a thousand things that could happen."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll make it to Insomnia no matter what."

"Are you sure you don't wish for us to accompany you?"

"No," Noctis whispered so softly that Ignis almost didn't hear it over the noise of the wind. "Don't get me wrong, I want you to. You've all come so far for me, but it's too dangerous. For all I know, Ardyn has killed everyone in Lucis just by being there, making it too cold. You guys are my friends, I won't lose you too. This is something I've got to do alone. You've gotten me here. Let me bring back spring to you."

Without warning, there were warm hands against his face, and Ignis leaned into touch, all too aware that this was the last memory of Noctis he'd ever get. "I love you."

"I love you too." It was Noctis who pressed their lips together one last time, the warmth flooding him, and the sorrow also chilling him. He wanted to freeze time at precisely this moment, if only to ensure that Noctis never actually left them again.

When Noct broke the kiss, he laughed, and Ignis didn't understand until he said, "Don't give me that look! I love you guys too!"

Gladio laughed, and Prompto squeaked, his voice full of fake reproach as he declared, "Not like that you don't!" Ignis had to chuckle at that, even as Noctis pulled away from him to hug their friends one last time, but the moment was gone too quickly, and all merriment ceased.

Noctis stepped back from them, and he took a deep breath. It was time. "This isn't the end," he said. "We'll all be together again someday. I can feel it."

"Noct, you can't promise things like that. You cannot be certain."

Warm hands grabbed his, such warm, bare hands. The hands of the King of Spring, who had a place and a job to do that didn't involve love, or humans, or even changelings. "No. I do promise. We will all see each other again. Not tomorrow, or anytime soon, but someday." Lips caressed his cheek so gently Ignis wasn't positive that he wasn't imagining it. "I absolutely promise." Those hands released him, and they all fell silent again as Noctis began to walk in the ice. Ignis could hear it, the light crunch of snow underfoot stepping on something that wasn't quite land.

He stood there listening, long after the sound of Noctis' footsteps had been swallowed up by the wind. He knew Noctis was gone long before Gladio put a comforting hand on his shoulder and told him so.


	7. Kept

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year later, spring begins to creep back to Tenebrae, and Ignis is given something that later earns him the title of "Fae Blessed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS IT. THE LAST CHAPTER.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this little story of mine. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> Also please read the end notes for a little something extra I didn't want to make into another chapter.

"Iggy! The thermometer says it's thrity-five degrees out!" Ignis could practically feel the excited energy radiating off Prompto, who was only able to keep himself quiet for a second before he continued, "That means it's officially above freezing! Isn't that exciting?!"

"It's very exciting," and it was, though Ignis couldn't manage to muster up the same sort of enthusiasm as Prompto. It had steadily been getting warmer for weeks, not by leaps and bounds, but steadily, about a degree a day. That had been what had brought Prompto and Gladio back to Tenebrae in the first place, this steady increase in warmth. They had all felt it was significant, and had all felt that they ought to be together to monitor it. It seemed now, that this had been the right call.

This morning, the old crank battery radio he kept in his office, eternally tuned into the frequency that he'd known Cindy to use with the other mechanics around Lucis had fizzled to life. There'd been no words, only noise, but that was still more than it had done in ten years. Now there was this. For three days the temperature had resolutely remained at thirty-one degrees. Today, as though making up for those days, it had jumped up above freezing. The sun was shining, and even from inside his rooms, he could hear the pip-pap that was snow melting off the roofs. Very exciting indeed.

"Do...do you guys think it's Noct?" Prompto's voice was very quiet now, a solemn reminder that Ignis did not need.

"It's gotta be," Gladio's gruff voice said from the corner of his office that he seemed to have permanently claimed.

Ignis nodded. "I agree."

"Do you think this means...he's won?" Ah, Prompto, always asking the hard questions.

"I think it's too early to tell for certain, but the recent changes definitely indicate that Ardyn's hold on winter is weakening."

"Yeah, Noct's definitely at least giving him a tough fight. If it ain't over already, it'll be over soon."

Gladio's words seemed to offer Prompto the reassurance he needed, for his voice popped right back up into sunny territory, "You're right. Everything will be fine, if not now, soon. I mean, it's above freezing! How can this possibly be bad news?" Ignis had an answer to Prompto's rhetorical question, but he wasn't cruel enough to say it. Any sort of joy was precious and rare. He'd never forgive himself if he destroyed it.

All the same, Ignis found that he couldn't stay here any longer. "I think I fancy a walk," he kept his tone light as he pushed himself up out of his chair, waving Prompto off as his friend acted on old habits and tried to help him. Once, it had annoyed him, Prompto's fluttering hands trying to guide him everywhere in his blindness, (he wasn't an invalid after all) but now he took it for what it really was; affection. Prompto didn't do it because he felt he had to, or because he thought Ignis couldn't do it for himself, he did it because he cared. Ignis couldn't hold such a sweet thing against him, no matter how irksome it could be at times.

Prompto stepped back from him, giving him plenty of space to get around the desk. "Are you going outside?" He asked in his overeager way.

"I think so, yes."

"That sounds great! I'll come too!"

"Prompto..." Ignis began, but the other man was still talking.

"I mean, I was going to tinker with the radio, make sure nothing's wrong with it, but I can totally do that later--"

"Prompto."

This time, it wasn't Ignis who spoke, but Gladio, and Prompto stopped short. Ignis could only imagine that there was some sort of silent conversation full of hand gestures and mouthed words after that, because for several seconds he heard nothing, but then Prompto gave his signature squeak. "Oh!" Two more seconds of silence, and then again, more softly. "Oh. I'm so sorry, Iggy!" There was no warning before arms were flung around him, and Prompto's head rested on his chest, fingers deftly massaging soft circles into his shoulders. "Of course you wanna be alone right now. I didn't even think about that. I'm sorry."

"It's quite all right," he promised, getting over the shock of the sudden embrace and patting Prompto's shoulder. "Your enthusiasm has always been one of your more endearing traits."

Prompto laughed softly, and pulled away slightly, his hands moving down to Ignis' elbows. "We miss him too, you know. I mean, of course it's different for you, but we understand. We're here for you. Right, Big Guy?"

"That's right. We're here, when you wanna talk about it."

"Thank you, I really can't tell you how much it means for me to have friends such as you." He couldn't, it was true that they'd mostly separated during the eternal winter, but that hadn't meant that they'd drifted apart. They'd all done what they'd needed to, and had come back together when they'd needed to. The moment he'd asked, they'd come. He knew they always would. He could not ask for better people by his side, but even that did not do the emotions justice. "I can only hope I can be such a good friend to you."

Prompto hugged him again, tighter this time, but also more briefly. "Don't worry, Iggy. Everyone knows you're the best." One last squeeze, and then Prompto was pulling away completely. "Have a good walk! Let us know when you come back, okay?"

"Of course." Prompto moved away properly then, engaging with Gladio, chattering about the radio. It was comforting, to know they'd be here when he got back. He could not possibly ask any more of them than that.

His entire body felt numb as he walked. Tenebrae had a lot of steps, and by now, Ignis had memorized them all, and let himself simply wander, up, and down, through, and around. His thoughts were scattered as he did so, always focused on Noctis, yet never staying on one bit for long, the thoughts often drifting from meeting him as a small child, to hearing about the attack, and his stay in Tenebrae to recover, the somber child he became after that, and then in later years...his absence. His absence was ever present, niggling in the back of his mind. Noctis was never coming back. Every time the thought formed fully in his head, the world felt like it was falling down around him, yet he still stood, still walked, until, finally, his feet came to a halt.

Where was he?

It was not often that Ignis found that he'd lost himself so far into his thoughts that he did not know where he'd ended up. In fact, it was so infrequent that he could not remember the last time he'd done it, but today he had to retrace his steps in his mind to figure out that somehow he'd ended up in one of the old sylleblossom fields. Ignis smiled sadly. Of course his distressed feet had brought him here. He remembered the old promise, the fact that they'd been Luna's favorites, and, by extension, Noct's favorite too. He remembered how angry he'd been when they'd found fae in these fields, ruining a memory that wasn't even his. He remembered that they'd found Noctis here too, though, at the time, he had not realized it was truly him.

Of course his feet had led him here.

If the wind had not started to blow, he might have started to cry.

It had been still all day, not even a light breeze, but out of nowhere the wind started to blow. Not the cold winter winds he'd become accustomed to, but warm, as though he were standing in front of a great fire, so warm it almost burned. It blew so harshly that Ignis could hear nothing but its rushing against his ears, feel nothing but its assault upon his body, until, suddenly hands cupped his face, lips pressed against his, and then it stopped as suddenly as it had started. They were there, fingers on his cheeks, a mouth against his own, but his hands found nothing and no one when he tried to grasp at them. This person was not there. He was stuck, even as the lips pulled back, and a distant, echoing voice spoke, much the same as Ardyn's voice had always been when he'd projected, but this was not Ardyn.

_"Specs."_

It was Noct.

Ignis opened his mouth to speak, but Noctis shushed him. _"I don't have much time, but I brought you a gift. Close your eyes."_

Even knowing this was perhaps not even real or lasting, Ignis found the request amusing. "Have you perhaps forgotten that I'm blind?"

The hand against his cheek slapped him, not hard, but enough to convey a petulant annoyance that Ignis could not stop himself from smiling at. _"Humor me."_

He did. He closed his eyes, and kissed back this time when Noctis' incorporeal self pressed their lips together again. Noct had said he didn't have much time. He didn't want to waste any of it.

Too quickly, Noct was pulling away again, and it took all of Ignis' restraint to not try to grab at someone he knew wasn't really there. "Can I open my eyes yet?"

_"Not yet,"_ he hummed, and the hands pulled away completely, causing Ignis to panic for a fraction of a moment before he felt them slide around his waist from behind, and felt Noct's cheek press against his shoulder. Oh, how he wished they'd had more time, but, then again, eternity would not be enough. _"Now, Ignis. Open them now."_

When Ignis did, he saw was a field filled to bursting with crisp blue flowers. No white, no snow, no barren ground, but sylleblossoms as far as the eye could see, and his could. Ignis' eyes could see. He'd never seen something so beautiful.

_"I'm a little slow about it sometimes,"_ Noctis far away voice whispered against his shoulder. _"But I always keep my promises."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three years later, the Restoration Committee wakes to find three of its leading members are missing. They search for them tirelessly, only to find that they truly seem to have disappeared without a trace.
> 
> It's young Talcott Hester who finds the letter slipped between papers on Ignis Scientia's desk nearly a week after the disappearance.
> 
> The letter is unsigned, unaddressed, and short, yet it answers all their questions.
> 
> It reads:
> 
> "I thought I was going insane, but they hear it too; Noctis' call. It permeates everything we do. Even in my dreams I hear him asking us to come to him. It's getting more desperate, almost like begging.
> 
> Our king is calling to us, and who are we to refuse a royal summons?"

**Author's Note:**

> So there you go! I guess if you liked it, you'll check for the next chapter tomorrow.
> 
> I have a pretty boring tumblr, but [Charmkeeperix](https://charmkeeperix.tumblr.com/) is where you can find me if you're interested.


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